Concentrator



May 14, 1929. A. H. STEBBINS GONCENTRATOR Filed April 28, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet ATToR/v-Ek A. H. STEBBINS CONCENTRATOR May 14, 1929.

Filed April 28, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet ,AT RNEY Patented May 14, 1929.

:; STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT H. S'IEBBINS, 01? LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

conceives-anon.

Application filed April 28,

be deiiected from a straight path to a greater degree than the heavy particles.

In carrying out the present invention the air or other fluid bearing the materials to be treated is forced through an annular discharge slot into the bowl shaped. lower end of a t-reatment chamber or receptacle. its the fluid bearing the materials to be treated -travcls along the inwardly converging side walls of the receptacle the heavy particles will be deflected from their straight path ozt travel to a less degree than the hue particles and as result the heavy particles will strike against and slide down the inwardly converging walls of the receptacle while the light particles will be deflected inwardly toward the central axis of the receptacle.

The materials being treated may be separated into a number of di'l'lerent grades by providing; conefi'itrically arrai'rtsjed discharge conduits at the lower end of the treatment chamber. The heaviest particles which are d cilected the least from a straight path will enter the outermost conduit, and'the lighter particles will enter the other concentrically arranged conduits. The lightest particles which are the easiest to deflect from a straight path will enter the innermost conduit.

The principal feature of the present invention resides in an annular discharge nozzle associated with a receptacle having in wardly converging walls and arranged so that the lighter particles within the carrying fluid discharged from the nozzle will be deflected inwardly from the Walls of the re ceptacle to a greater degree than the heavier particles.

Another feature of the invention resides in concentrically arranged conduits positioned at the lower end of the treatment chamber to receive the different grades of materials.

Another feature of the invention resides in exhaust means for exhausting air from the lower portion of the treatment chamber.

Uther features of the invention and novel combination of parts in addition to the above 1927. Serial No. 187,373.

will be hereinafter described in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate good practical forms of the invention.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a con centrator constructed in accordance with the present invention, the separators associated tl'ierewith being shown in side elevation;

Fig. 2 on an enlarged scale is a sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the concentrator of Fig. 1;

Fig. l is a vertical sectional view through a modified type of concentrator; and

Fig. is a top plan viewol Fig. 4;

In carrying out the present invention either air or water may be employed as the "carrying medium, and in the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, air is employed as the carrying medium, while, when the construction shown in Figs. 4: and 5 is employed, water may constitute the carrying fluid.

Referring to the construction shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 the separation of the mate rial is eil'ected in the tubular receptacle 10, the lower portion of which has the inwardly converging side walls 11 or bowl shaped construction shown.

The air bearing the materials to be treated is supplied to the upper portion of the re ceptacle under pressure and is preferably directed tangentially into the upper portion of the receptacle by arranging the air supply pipe 12 so that it leads tangentially into this receptacle as shown in Fig. 2. The object of introducing the material laden air tangentially into the. upper portion of the receptacle is to in'upart a sul'licient whirling movement to the air to keep the materials evenly distributed; this whirling n'iovel'nent need not be strong enough to throw the heavier particles outwardly by centrifugal force. A blast thin 13 may he provided to force the material-laden air into the receptacle 10 through the feed pipe 12.

\Vithin the receptacle 10 is provided an annular slot or nozzle 14: tl'irough which the material laden air is forced downwardly adjacent the side walls of the receptacle into the bowl-shaped portion 11. The annular slot or nozzle 14 is formed, in the construction shown, by providing within the receptacle a central core 15 having a bulged intermediate portion and the tapered end portions shown. 15 serves to direct the air downwardly into the narrow annular slot 14 and the l'o'we'r" .11 will be controlled to a large degree by the most conduit'23.

configuration given the'lower tapered portion of the core 15. Supporting elements 16 maybe provided betwcenthe central core 15 and side walls ofthe receptacle to hold the core in its central position within the receptacle. In. the particular construction shown the core 15 surrounds and is secured to av centrally disposed exhaust pipe 17 whiclrextends downwardly into the receptacle 10 through the cover 18 at the upper end of the receptaclejand this exhaust pipe helps to support the core in place.

At the lower end of the receptacle 10 may be provided any desired number of concentrically arranged exhaust conduits, live being showmwhich are designated by the numerals 19 to '23'inclusive. The arrangement so far described is such that the air bearing the materials to be treated will pass downwardly through therelatively narrow annular slot or nozzle 14' in the form of an annular jetwhich passes downwardly in close proximity to the side walls ofthereceptacle.

Since these side walls near the lower end of' the receptacle converge inwardly they will deflectthe air jet inwardly towards the central axis of the receptacle. The heavier particles within this annular jet of air will tend to travel in a straight line and will be deflected inwardly to a less degree than the lighter particles with the result that these heavier particles'will strike against the walls, 11 and will pass downwardly into the outermost conduit 19. The'lighter particles which aremore easily deflected from their straight path of travel will be carried inwardly into the remaining conduits 2O to 23 inclusive, the intermediate particles :being deflected toa less degree than the lightest particles, so that the intermediateparticles will enter the conduits 20, 21 and 22,"'while the lightest particles willenter the inner- Each of the conduits may beprovided at its upper 'endwith an outwardly flaring mouth, as shown, which will v help to direct the materials into thereaduits.

In the construction shown each of "the conduits 19 to 2-3 inclusive discharges into a different separator or dust collector designated in the drawings by the characters 19,

The upper portion of the core 20, 21, 22 and 23, the conduits 19 to 23 being connected to the respective receptacles by the pipes 19, 20 etc. These receptacles are operated b suction and to this end the entire group 0 receptacles are connected by the pipes 19, 20 etc. to the general colleehn- 24"fi'om which air is exhausted through the pipe 25 leading from the upper end thereof to an exhaust fan 25 or other form of exhaustmeans. The exhaust pipe 17 which leads upwardly through the rccept acle 10 may be connected to the separator 26 by the pipe 27 and air is exhausted from this receptacle 26 by the pipe 28 leading to the general collector 24. The strength of the exhaust produced in each of the separators may be controlled by adjusting the gates or valves 29 provided in the pipes leading from these separators. The particles which are separated out ofthe air in each separator or dust collector will collect in the lower end thereof from which they may be withdrawn from time to time as found desirable. As the air bearing the materials to be treated is forced downwardly through the annular nozzle 1 1 into the bowl-shaped por; tion 11 of the receptacle, the air in the lower port-ion of the receptacle will be crowded inwardly, due to the tapered construction of the lower portion of the receptacle and will be'drawn inwardly by the re duced'air pressure produced at the central portion of the receptacle by the exhaust pipes 17 and 23, and as above stated the movement of the air towards the central axis of the receptacle will exert a greater deflecting force upon the lighter particles suspended within the air tlnnrupon the heavier particles, with the result that the lighter particles will be carried inwardly away from the side walls 11 and the lightest particles will eitherpass downwardly through the exhaust pipe 23, or upwardly through the exhaust pipe 17. The separators 26, 19', 2d etc. may have any well known construction adapted to be operated by suction to cause the particles suspended in the air to be removed therefrom. The tapered upper portion ofthe central core 15 serves to direct the material laden air downwardly into the restricted throat 14 and the downwardly tapered end portion of this coreservcs to control expansion of the air inwardly within the lowerportion of the receptacle, but this downwardly extending curved guide is not an essential'feature in all embodiments of the invention and may be omitted from some constructions. Likewise the upper tapered portion of the'core 15 is not an essential feature in all constructions, since other means may be provided for directin the materialladen airdownwardly throng 1 the discharge nozzle 14.

In the modification shown in Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawing, in which water is employed as the carrying medium, the separation of the materials is effected in the receptacle 30 the lower end portion 31 of which is contracted substantially as in the construction shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, and at the lower end of the receptacle 30 is provided any desired number ol. concentrically arranged conduits 82 similar to those above described. The upper end portion of this modified construction is shown having a reduced diameter, as indicated by 3} and the water bearing the materials to be treated may be forced into the reduced upper end 33 of the receptacle through a supply pipe 34: leading from a pump or other source oi supply not shown. -il ithin the receptacle 30 is mounted a core or curved guide cone 35 which may be sus pended from the upper end 36 of the receptacle by an adjustable rod 37, the arrangement being such that a narrow annularslot or nozzle 38 is provided between the side walls of the receptacle and the lower end of the core The pressure ot the water conlined in the upper portion of the receptacle 30 will cause an annular jet oi the water to be directed downwardly within the receptacle adjacent the inwardly converging side walls 31 with the result that the stream of water 'l'orced downwardly into the converging lower end of the receptacle will he crowded inwardly towards the central axis of the receptacle. The heavier particles will he deflected from their straight path of travel to a less degree than the lighter particles with the result that the heavier particles will slide down the side walls 31 ot the receptacle into the outermost conduit 32 while the lighter particles which are more readily deflected from their straight path of travel will be crowded inwardly to enter the inner conduits 32.

Each conduit 32 preferably leads to a dit lerent settling tank 39 so that the graded materials will have an opportunity to settle in the different tanks. lt may be desirable to regulate the flow of water through the dillen ent conduits 82, but it is not practical to completely close the pipes leading from the corn duits 32 to the receptacles 39, due to the tendency of the materials suspended within the water to clog such pipes. To prevent this clogging effect each discharge pipe l0 is provided with a lay-pass pipe ll which serves to carry a portion of the water passing through. a pipe 40 into the settling tank 39. The desired regulation of the flow of water :trom any one conduit 32 to its settling tank may be controlled to a substantial degree by adjusting a valve 42 provided in each hy-pass ll. In this manner clogging of the pipes ll) is prevented, while the amount of water passing through a particular pipe 32 may be controlled to a substantial degree.

The construction whereby the desired separation ol the materials is secured is substantially the same when either air or water is employed as the carrying medium, but since air is highly elastic while water is inelastic, the expansion of the former will help to dellect the lighter particles inwardly towards the central axis oi the receptacle, whereas when water is employed this expansion ell'ect is not secured and the inwardly converging side walls 31 of the receptacle are relied upon to crowd the stream of water inwardly to a sullicient extent to cause the lighter particles to enter the innermost conduit 32.

What isclaimed is 1. A. concentrator comprising in combination, a receptacle provided with side walls that converge inwardly adjacent its lower end, means constructed to form an annular slot within the receptacle adjacent its side walls and positioned to direct an. annular jet of fluid downwardly within the receptacle against said converging walls, concentrically arranged discharge conduits located in said receptacle near the lower end of said inwardly converging side walls, and means for forcing a fluid bearing the materials to be treated downwardly through said annular slot so that the light particles will be de flected inwardly by the converging walls to a greater degree than the heavy particles and the different materials will he carried into the dillerent discharge conduits.

2. A concentrator comprising in combination, a receptacle provided near its lower end with downwardly converging side walls, means constructed to form an annular slot within the receptacle adjacent its side walls and positioned to direct an annular jet of air downwardly within the receptacle along said converging walls, concentrically arranged discharge conduits located in said receptacle near the lower end of said inwardly converging side walls, and means for forcing air hearing the materials to be treated downwardly through said annular slot so that the lighter particles will he carried i11- Wardly by the air to a greater extent than the heavier particles and the different materials will enter the dili'erent discharge conduits.

3. A concentrator comprising in combination, a receptacle provided near its lower end with downwardly converging side Walls, means constructed to form an annular slot within the receptacle adjacent its side walls and positioned to direct an annular jet of air downwardly within the receptacle along said converging walls, concentrically arranged discharge conduits located in said receptacle near the lower end of said inwardly converging side walls, means for forcing air bearing the materials to he treated downwardly through said annular slot so that the lighter particles will be carried inwardly by the air 'to a greater extent than the heavier particles and the different materials will enter the different discharge "conduits, and means for exhausting air from said conduits.

4. A concentrator comprising-in combination, a receptacle provided near its lower end with downwardly converging side walls, means constructed to form an annular slot within the receptacle adjacent its side walls and positioned to direct an annular blade of air downwardly within the receptacle along said converging walls,adownwardly tapering directing 'wall mounted in the casing below said slot and in spaced relation to said converging wall and adapted to co-operate with the converging wall to define a down wardly converging air passagewithin the receptacle, means for forcing air bearing the materials to be treated downwardly through 1 said slot so that the light particles will be deflected inwardly to a greater degree-than the heavy particles to thereby effect their separation, and a series of concentrically arrangeddischarge conduits mounted at the lower end of the receptacle to receive the separated particles.

' 5. A concentrator comprising in combination, a tubular receptacle provided near its lower end with downwardly converging side 'walls,*an inner core having oppositely tapered ends mounted within the receptacle to forin anarrow annular air passage between the core and inner side walls oi the receptacle, and concentrically arranged dis charge conduits located in such receptacle near the lower end of said downwardly converging side walls, means for forcing air bearing thematcrials to be treated into the upper portion of the receptacle to cause it to pass downwardly in the form'o'f an annular jet through said passagetoi direct the heavier particles along said converging Walls while the lighter particles will he deflected inwardly away from-said walls to thereby cause the difierent-size materials to enter the different concentrically arranged conduits.

6. A concentrator comprising in combination, a receptacle provided near its lower end with inwardly converging walls, means constructed to form an annular slot within the receptacle adjacent its side walls and positioned to direct an annular 'et of air downwardly within the receptacle against said converging walls, concentrically artion,'an upright receptacle having a series of concentrically arranged discharge conduits located at its lower end, moans constructed to form an annular slot within the receptacle adjacent its side walls and in spaced relation to the discharge conduits, means for forcing air bearing the materials to be separated downwardly through said. slot in the form of an annular jet lying close to the side Walls of the receptacle, and the receptacle being provided between said annularslot and the mouths of said discharge conduits with inwardly converging side walls constructed to deflect the light particles inwardly to a greater extent than the heavier particles to cause the different size particles to enter the different discharge conduits.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

ALBERT H. STEBBTNS. 

